Bumper Sticker Madness

It’s been a long time since I did an update (you should really be paying attention to the facebook page at this point). However getting some swag to give away is as good a reason as any to make one.

As you can see in the picture, we got some new bumper stickers courtesy of SoFloRadio.com.
Go ahead, put one on your bumper, your college dorm, your laptop, your forehead. Just let me know you want one and I’ll hook you up.

Race To Pie!

Friday night (5/21/2010) I will be in an intense race against the clock.

This weekend I will be going up to visit my brother north of Tampa (Brooksville, FL for you stalkers out there) and watching my daughter compete in a bowling tournament. The trip there should take about five hours.

Here’s the catch and the reason for the race:  Peanut Butter Cream Pie.

Sounds like a good reason right?  A while back, I caught an episode of Man Vs. Food in which host Adam Richman went to Sarasota, FL to take part in a food eating challenge (he lost).  While waiting for the challenge he went to a nearby Amish restaurant called Yoders.   It just so happens that Yoders specialty it pie.   It just so happens that my specialty is eating pie.  Their best pie is a Peanut Butter Cream according to Man Vs. Food.   I don’t doubt it! The pies, that Yoders makes fresh, seemed unbelievably good.  

 Last year when going to visit my brother and passing by Sarasota, me and Jessica made it a point to check out Yoders.   This did not work out so well. It seems those darn Amish are serious about their religion (go figure) and were closed on the Sunday we stopped in.  Instead, I ate at a Waffle House that was stuck in a time warp from 1982. I may have even heard an ad for E.T. on the radio. I cannot express the letdown this was.

Now I am heading back to my brothers and passing Sarasota again on a weekend. We know that Sunday is out.  Saturday I’m watching kids bowl so that only leaves Friday.  And since I’m a working stiff it means Friday night. 

Here’s the rub.  I work at the mines until 5pm ET.  Yoders closes 8pm ET (ridiculous!).  This gives me three hot hours to make there from Coconut Creek, FL.  Google Maps puts Yoders at 3 hours and 9 minutes away.   I’m sure I can make up the 9 minutes by driving a little faster.   However there is the issue of rush hour traffic.

Can I make it to Yoders by 8pm ET? I’m not sure.   At least I know the Waffle House is open 24/7.

Sir Darryl Loves Me

I sitting at home minding my own business when the phone rang…

The Back Up Plan: Is This For Real?

by ‘Intern’ Jessica Pac

First I want to lay down the synopsis, then I will dive right into my feelings and concerns when it comes to this new Rom-Com out now.

The Back Up Plan is a story about Zoe (with the ‘e’ pronounced, which I’ve never understood because Toe sounds like T-oh, why doesn’t Zoe sound like Z-oh??  Whatever!) played by J-Lo (which is a reason that I’m okay with the J-Pac that I often get) who wants a baby really badly.  This is shown to us in the cartoon credit sequence in the beginning and then after that we see Zoe in stirrups getting artificially enseminated.  She walks out, catches a cab and meets the YOUNG man of her dreams (I know that Alex O’Loughlin is like 34, but the guy looks like he’s 25, and then you take her 40 years and it’s just a tiny weird for this 15 year difference, which I know it isn’t but it sure seems it!).  They proceed to have a relationship which is filled with the typical kid and baby jokes (a guy friend of his talks about how kids suck but have that moment of awesomeness to make up for it, enter kid with a fist full of poop…No, that’s not that moment, laughter fills the room…or not).

I have to say, I was SOOOoooo disappointed by this movie that I felt the need to apologize to my poor husband who had to literally endure it because of me.  The jokes were not funny and the characters were not relatable or even all that likeable, and really, I guess that’s not really a fair statement because I really did think that Zoe was a good person, J-Lo really has a way to play a person and make them very likable and make it like you want to be their friend.  Her friend Michaela Watkins was adorable and funny as heck with kid antics, just as funny as she always was in SNL (I loved her Hoda!).  At one point, while trying to talk Zoe out of her decision to have a baby, her kids are running around with dinner and after screaming that to them she turns to J-Lo and says, “I hate them” which, to me, is hysterical.  Other than that, the movie was TERRIBLE!  I know that CBS was the studio that made this movie, but did it have to FEEL like a made for TV movie?

Boo to The Back Up Plan and Boo to CBS!  F!

New York Video Updates

Here is the collection of lame videos me and Jessica made on our recent NY trip.

Greetings from Queens. http://yfrog.us/4pd33z

In case you missed it, Jessica updates from a dirty subway!    http://yfrog.us/74shgz

Dan at the Empire State Building.   http://yfrog.us/jbaosz

Update from the Metro-North.   http://yfrog.us/4owfoz

Update from Waterbury with Antubert! Shocking images follow. http://yfrog.us/4vov1z

Video update from Jessica at some random pizza joint!    http://yfrog.us/jo4b9z

Video update with Dan at Rockefeller Center.     http://yfrog.us/2mqgzz

Bill Maxwell: Greatest TV Character Ever

With Robert Culp passing this week at the age of 79 I thought it would be a fitting tribute to post an email that my brother Eric sent to Mr. Culp a few months back.  Eric is convinced that Culp’s character on The Greatest American Hero is the great in television history.  Okay, I know what you’re thinking but hear the man out.  He’s some points and has clearly done his homework.

Dear Mr. Culp,

Hello! My name is Eric Delgado, and I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits.  The reason I write to you is to thank you for making an impact on my life as well as millions of others through your characterizations in television and film.  I could go into great detail about many of them, but what I really want to do is make my case for the man that I feel is the greatest character in television history, Bill Maxwell.  I do not say this lightly, in fact it is after much thought on the subject that I make this claim and have been for about 4 years now, after careful examination.  I thought you just might be interested in knowing why.

Bill Maxwell is incredibly unique.  He is a man who has seen and lived a very difficult life, one filled with violence, pain, suffering, and death from a very young age.  This has toughened him beyond belief, as he proves time and again, yet anyone who knows the man also sees how truly sensitive he is, how alone he is.

He went to a little known school called KOREA, 72nd armored division, where he played the accordion, and  learned to kill.  He constantly refers to this time in his life, and it is seen represented in the oddest of places, for example in patches on an old football jacket which amuses us, and saddens us as well.  Bill cannot let go of this period, because he WANTS it to validate him to the world around him.  It does not, as he is surrounded by those who do not seem to care, or wish to remember.

Bill went on to join the FBI as a young man, and relentlessly pursued the bad guys for the rest of his life.  He did this it seems as if it were simply the thing to do, not so much as a calling, but just because it needed doing, and he was as good as anyone for the job.  He gained a reputation for steadfastness and overall consistency, if not leadership and success.

The little green guys could have chosen anyone, from millions of potential candidates.  They chose Bill Maxwell, a 50-ish year old mid-level field agent of the FBI.  Outwardly there is no particularly good reason to charge him with being the man who will guide Ralph Hinckley in a mission to safeguard humanity.  But they choose him anyway, and its all about what’s on the inside.

Bill has a heart as strong as an ox and it beats solely for baggin’ the bad guys, big and small.  If a pill or drug existed to allow him to chase them 24 hours a day he would take it, forsaking everything else that life is granted for.

And he’d love it.

Bill knows fear as well as anyone, and its evident to those who are looking.  But he shows none of it, snarling and wise-cracking his way through every obstacle that comes his way.  As he teams up with Ralph, he finds himself outmanned and outgunned on a daily basis.  Ralph is protected by the suit, the baddies have the numbers, but Bill is a mere mortal, on the wrong side of 50, often on his own as Ralph approaches from the sky.  He knows that in order to keep Ralph’s secret he must go it alone, and face death squarely.

And he never complains.

Happiness is a warm pistol, his favorite t-shirt proclaims.  They forget the “A”, he reminds us, which would have made it “pistola”.  It’s what he wants to believe, wants US to believe.  But when the day is done, Ralph goes home to the counselor, and Bill goes home alone.  He’ll wait there for the next chance to chase again.  He lives in utter squalor, and it appears as though his money is never spent.  Perhaps he’s saving it to one day will to Ralph, as he has no children or family that we know of.

Occasionally he considers dating, but nixes it as he remembers who Bill Maxwell is.  A bad guy gettin’ machine.

Through Ralph Bill thrives like never before, as Ralph gives him camaraderie, someone to mentor.  Bill relishes every minute of every scenario.

And he never seeks the credit.  Yes he talks a great game, but inside he knows it means nothing, his true reward is being in on the next bust.

The good Lord blessed him with an amazing wit, a way of seeing and putting things so unique its possibly unheard of.  “We’re gonna put a hole in this guy’s bucket and drain all his worms out.”, and “if you’re lookin for trouble pal, you’ve just reached the west coast distributor.”

“Yamma yamma, scoobidy-doo, and gobbledy GOOK!”

Bill couldn’t be more grateful to the green guys for what they’ve given him, which is a chance to hunt, forever.  But what they’ve also given him is a family, and Bill couldn’t be more confused as to what to do with that.

Because he never had one, certainly not one of his own, one to take care of.

Worst of all, one that he could lose.

He constantly shows us how fearful he is in this regard, how fragile it all is, shielding all of this with humor and grit.

But he’ll never give up on them.

And he’ll never fly.

He’ll never deflect bullets.

He’ll never turn invisible.

He’ll never possess super human strength.

He’ll always be one mistake away.

And he’ll never trade any of it, ever.

Thank you Mr. Culp, for giving that to us.  I can’t do it justice.

But thank you.

Sincerely,

Eric Delgado

Midnight Run 2?

Just read some of the brief details about Robert De Niro returning to the role of Jack Walsh, Bounty Hunter.  Yes it seems a Midnight Run sequel is happening.

The details are needed before the opinion, so here’s what I read at Deadline.com.  De Niro will star with the script being written by Tim Dowling.   De Niro’s company, Tribeca, will produce.  No Charles Grodin.  No word on director but I have a feeling Martin Brest won’t be coming back either.

Now, honestly I don’t know Tim Dowling from Father Dowling but his credits include Role Models and some things that haven’t come out yet.  I’m not sure why original writer George Gallo, who is still around, isn’t being invited back either.

Basically we’re just getting De Niro as Walsh.  He’ll be chasing some other guy (or gal) this time around.  This might have been okay say ten years ago.

Right now De Niro is in his late 60′s and I would think that by now Jack Walsh would be retired.  Hell, he did get plenty of money at the end of the first film and had intentions of opening a coffee shop.  Guess that didn’t work out.

Midnight Run is a favorite movie of mine and one of the top five fun times I’ve had in a theater.  Pretty much anyone I’ve ever talked about it with loves it.   It was a hit when it first came out in 1988 so I can see the appeal of a sequel.  Sorta.

Yes, this really happened

I remember being really excited about a sequel of sorts we already had.   Back in the early 90′s there was a series of made for television movies that came out featuring Christopher MacDonald as Walsh.  These were not any good.  And those titles!  Another Midnight Run.  Midnight Runaround.  Midnight Run For Your Life.  I’m not making those up.  I think they stopped making them because they ran out of idiotic titles to use.

So needless to say this did not satisfy my want for more Jack Walsh, bounty hunter.  But I can say that time took care of that.  Now that’s coming, years too late, it seems more depressing than anything else.   Jack Walsh now goes the way of all the other 80′s cinematic icons who have come back.   Go ahead Jack, stand next to Indiana Jones, John McClane, Rambo, and all the rest who also couldn’t leave well enough alone.

Granted I will be buying a ticket to see it.  If the whole team from the first film was coming back and it was continuation of the original storyline I would be more optimistic.  However since that’s not the case, I will do my best to keep an open mind.   Maybe they have some great idea behind it that will shock everyone.

Movie Re-View: Speed

I always like to say that movies grow and shrink in our minds after we see them.  Some movies stay with you and become greater, the more you ponder them.  Others shrink once you realize how ridiculous some of the crap you just saw was.

For me Speed is definitely a movie that shrank.  Quite a bit in fact.  I can remember really enjoying it the first time I saw it in the summer of 1994.  The Die Hardish story of a bus rigged with a bomb to blow if the bus goes below 50 was certainly ridiculous but enjoyably so.  Sure, even then the bus jumping the gap of that highway was hard to take, but overall it was a fun time.

Then time went on and that jump was what lingered.  The worst part of the movie is what stayed with me.  The terrible sequel that came out a few years later didn’t help.

However over the last weekend Speed was on Fox Movie Channel and since my 11 year old was over I figured this could be a fun choice.  Afterall I had not seen Speed in over 10 years.  How bad could it have been?

Turns out, it’s really not so bad.  In fact it was a lot of fun.  From the opening sequence with the bomb rigged elevator to the silly ending in the subway, Speed manages to always be entertaining.

Oh sure, there’s still Keanu Reeves awful acting to deal with, and Dennis Hopper is more hammy than scary, but the thrills do thrill and Sandra Bullock is still cute.  There’s something very cool to me about the melodramatic action movie, where everything is taken SO seriously.

My daughter was edge the entire time and so was my wife for good measure.  It’s always great to see a movie getting the reaction it intended to get.

And yes that jump is still in there.  And yes, it’s still not good.

And no, that doesn’t ruin the movie.  At least not this time.

Olympic Interlude Has Ended (hopefully!)

I know I should be spending more time on blog.  Writing things that about 8 people will read.   However I must admit the Winter Olympics had taken over most of my non-radio free time.

Now the Olympics are over and hopefully I will get back to writing meaningless things.  It’s what I was born to do.

DVD #4: First Snow

Really I shouldn’t be doing this.

I should be commenting on the Academy Award nominations or on Miramax closing, and while I do have things to say on both of those subjects I am not saying them now.  Instead it’s back to the DVD list.

For round four I went with First Snow.  Here we have (another on the list I had not seen) a film starring Guy Pearce.   I figured it had to be at least decent since Pearce is one of the best actors we have out there.   As it turns out it’s a bit better than that.

The story concerns Pearce’s character, a salesman named Jimmy, who runs into a psychic who tells him that he’s not going to live very long.  In fact he’ll be dead by the first snow.   How ominous! 

At first Jimmy scoffs at the psychic, but when other predictions he made come true Jimmy is convinced that he’s doomed.  There’s no indication as to how he’s going die, just that it’s going to happen. 

Naturally his response to this is extreme.  Screw going to work, I’m going on the lam!   And he hasn’t even committed a crime.  Though he certainly did commit one in his past.   And as it turns out that past is coming back to haunt him as an old friend Jimmy may or may not have sold out is fresh from prison and looking to reconnect.

First Snow is a pretty interesting and suspenseful movie.  It builds slowly but never gets to a fever pitch.  That’s to its benefit and its detriment.   Not having a going bananas moment for Pearce would have improved this film greatly and ensured that you remembered it long after it’s over.  That’s not to say Pearce doesn’t going a bit mad.  He certainly does.  And while it’s good, it is that missing element that is keeping it from being great.

There’s an good supporting cast here that pretty much does nothing.  William Fichtner is a fellow salesman and Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly? Yes!) both have the task of telling Pearce to stop acting so crazy.  Fairly standard stuff. 

I remember seeing the trailer for First Snow when it came out in 2007, but I don’t remember it ever being out.   A check at boxofficemojo.com tells why.   It never got a wider release of more than 33 screens. 

It’s too bad because, while not spectacular, First Snow deserved a better fate as movie.  Instead it seems to have gotten one that’s just as grave as Jimmy’s future.

And just for the record, the DVD list is now at 2-2.